CITY COUNCIL OF CEBU vs. CUIZON GR No.

L- 28972 October 31, 1972 FACTS: y Respondents Mayor Cuizon and Tropical Commercial Co. entered into a contract involving the purchase of road construction equipment for $520,912.00 cash from Tropical. The City Council of Cebu filed with the CFI a complaint to nullify said contract as having been executed without prior authority from it. Complaint was dismissed for lack of legal capacity. The lower court held that there is no provision of law authorizing the city council to sue in behalf of the city and that the authorized representative under the LGC is the city mayor for that purpose. Hence the appeal. FACTS: y y y

VILLANUEVA vs. CASTAEDA G.R. No. L-61311 September 2l, 1987

y y y

y y y

ISSUE: Whether or not the city councilors have the legal capacity to question the validity of the contract entered into by the mayor. y RULING: Yes. Generally, suit is commenced by the local executive, i.e. the mayor, upon authority of the sanggunian, except where the city councilors themselves and as representatives in behalf of the city, bring the action to prevent unlawful disbursement of public funds. Here where the defendant city mayor's acts and contracts purportedly entered into on behalf of the city are precisely questioned as unlawful, the city mayor would be the last person to file such a suit on behalf of the city, since he precisely maintains the contrary position that his acts have been lawful and thus duly bind the city. To adhere to the lower court's interpretation would mean that no action against a city mayor's acts and contracts in the name and on behalf of the city could ever be questioned and subjected to judicial action for a declaration of nullity and invalidity, since no city mayor would file such an action on to question, much less nullify, contracts executed by him on behalf of the city and which he naturally believes to be valid and within his authority. Hence, the order appealed from is set aside and the lower court is ordered to proceed with the trial and disposition of the case. y y y ISSUE:

In the vicinity of the public market of San Fernando, Pampanga, there stands a strip of land occupied by vendor stalls forming a so-called talipapa. These vendors conduct business in said area by virtue of a previous authorization (Resolution 218) granted to them by the municipal government. A protest has been filed against Resolution 218 and the CFI decided that the land cannot be subject of private occupancy, it being public in nature, thus beyond the commerce of man. However this decision has not been enforced and petitioners continued to occupy the land while paying daily fees to the municipal government. A subsequent resolution (Resolution 29) which declared the subject area as a public plaza impliedly revoked Resolution No. 218. Later, the Association of Concerned Citizens and Consumers of San Fernando filed a petition for the immediate implementation of Resolution No. 29, to restore the subject property "to its original and customary use as a public plaza. Acting on said petition, respondent Vicente A. Macalino, as officer-in-charge of the office of the mayor of San Fernando, issued a resolution to demolish the stalls in the subject place. Petitioners filed a petition for prohibition with the CFI of Pampanga which was denied. Petitioners moved for reconsideration but was denied. Hence, the petition for certiorari to the SC. Whether or not petitioners have the right to occupy the subject land.

RULING: y y y NO. A public plaza is beyond the commerce of man and cannot be the subject if lease or any other contractual undertaking. The petitioners had no right in the first place to occupy the subject land and cannot insist to remain there now on the strength of their alleged lease contracts. Even assuming the existence of a valid lease of the land in dispute, the municipal resolution effectively terminated the agreement for it is settled that the police power cannot be surrendered or bargained away through the medium of a contract. Petition dismissed.

VIOLA VS. ALUNAN III G.R. No. 115844. August 15, 1997 FACTS: Viola, as a barangay chairman, filed a petition for prohibition challenging the validity of the Art III, Sec.1-2 of the Revised Implementing Rules and Guidelines for the General Elections of the Liga ng mga Barangay Officers insofar as they provide for the election of first, second, and third vice presidents and for auditors for the National Liga ng mga Barangay and its chapters. He contended that the questioned positions are in excess of those provided in the LGC Sec.493 which mentions as elective positions only those of the president, vice president, and five members of the board of directors in each chapter at the municipal, city, provincial, metropolitan political subdivision, and national levels and thus the implementing rules expand the numbers in the LGC in violation of the principle that implementing rules and regulations cannot add or detract from the provisions of the law they are designed to implement. ISSUE: Whether or not Sec 1-2 of the Implementing Rules are valid. RULING: Yes. The creation of additional positions is authorized by Sec. 493 of the LGC which in fact requires and not merely authorizes the board of directors to create such other positions as it may deem necessary for the management of the chapter. To begin with, the creation of these positions was actually made in the Constitution and By-laws of the Liga ng mga barangay which was adopted by the First Barangay National Assembly. There is no undue delegation of power by Congress in this case. SC decisions have upheld the validity of reorganization statutes authorizing the President of the Philippines to create, abolish, or merge offices in the executive management. While the board of directors of a local chapter can create additional positions to provide for the needs of the chapter, the board of directors of the National Liga must be deemed to have the power to create additional positions not only for its management but also for that of all the chapters at the municipal, city, provincial and metropolitan political subdivision levels. Otherwise the National Liga would be no different from the local chapters. The fact is that Sec. 493 grants the power to create positions not only to the boards of the local chapters but to the board of the Liga at the national level as well. Petition dismissed.

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LGC, Sec. 493. Organization The liga at the municipal, city, provincial, metropolitan political subdivision, and national levels directly elect a president, a vice-president, and five (5) members of the board of directors. The board shall appoint its secretary and treasurer and create such other positions as it may deem necessary for the management of the chapter. A secretary-general shall be elected from among the members of the national liga and shall be charged with the overall operation of the liga on the national level. The board shall coordinate the activities of the chapters of the liga. Revised Implementing Rules and Guidelines : Sec. 1. Local Liga Chapters. The Municipal, City, Metropolitan and Provincial Chapters shall directly elect the following officers and directors to constitute their respective Board of Directors, namely: 1.1 President 1.2 Executive Vice-President 1.3 First Vice-President 1.4 Second Vice-President 1.5 Third Vice-President 1.6 Auditor 1.7 Five (5) Directors Sec. 2. National Liga. The National Liga shall directly elect the following officers and directors to constitute the National Liga Board of Directors namely: 2.1 President 2.2 Executive Vice-President 2.3 First Vice-President 2.4 Second Vice-President 2.5 Third Vice-President 2.6 Secretary General 2.7 Auditor 2.8 Five (5) Directors